With the ban on the operations of illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO)’s hubs across the country, some 80,000 unsold condominium units have remained idle and unoccupied.
The worrisome situation could be a boon than a bane as converting them into public housing could reduce the expenditures of government as these condo units, mostly in the National Capital Region, may benefit from their conversion into cash for the housing of government employees as they were built at very high cost.
Amortization could be made in the form of salary deductions and this would reduce the housing backlog that the national government has to address through the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) and its attached agencies.
According Senator Francis ‘Chiz’ Escudero, the estimated 80,000 condominium units remain unsold– with last year’s ban on POGO and these could be put to better use if integrated into the government’s housing program.
“Why build from scratch when there are already existing units that can be made available to our people?” Escudero pointed out in his ‘Chiz Wiz!’ podcast even as he cited that available housing stock might be “tapped more quickly through public-private collaboration.”
“Existing real estate inventory should be tapped as part of broader efforts to make decent and affordable housing more accessible to Filipinos,” he asserted.
Tagging the present condition of the housing sector as ‘paradoxucal’, the senator noted that while thousands of condominium units remained unoccupied, millions of Filipinos continue to face a housing backlog that has kept them homeless for decades.
“This highlights the need to better align existing housing supply with families’ housing needs and financial capacity,” he asserted.
As chair of the Senate’s Committee on Urban Planning, Housing and Resettlement, Escudero called on the government and developers to explore ways to integrate excess condominium inventory into the expanded Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino (4PH) program, allowing more families to acquire decent homes through existing residential units.
In truth, the DHSUD has already allowed developers to enroll their excess housing inventory in the 4PH Program and although this might require them to accept lower profit margins or absorb losses, maintaining idle units as idle would mean losing more and having a slim chance of recovering their investments.
“Housing is not simply a problem of supply. The bigger challenge is making homes affordable for ordinary Filipinos through financing terms they can realistically pay every month,” Escudero was quoted saying.
To ensure affordability, the senator is encouraging policymakers to explore ways to reduce monthly housing costs through improved financing mechanisms, subsidies,m and longer repayment periods while expanding affordable rental housing options for families who cannot yet afford to buy homes.
“This is consistent with legislative efforts being pursued by the Senate in aiming to expand access to housing and strengthen the country’s housing framework,” he stressed.
In ending Escudero narrowed down the problem beyond housing production, saying that the government should also pursue measures to lower the overall cost of homeownership, encourage the productive use of existing housing inventory and improve mass transit systems so that more Filipinos could live outside major urban centers while maintaining access to employment opportunities.
